


Masquerade

by Writerleft



Series: Comes Marching Home [15]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Day 1-3: Masquerade, Deleted Scene, F/F, Future Industries, Korrasami Month 2017, Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 22:32:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12591984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerleft/pseuds/Writerleft
Summary: How exactly did the CEO of a major corporation take so much time off, weeks after her company almost folded?





	Masquerade

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Korrasami Month 2017! As is my tendency, these should all be part of my larger Comes Marching Home timeline, but unless I tell you in a note here, you don't need to have read any of the previous stories to make sense of this one. Though they're all there for you to enjoy, and that's good news too!

  
  
_Fanart courtesy of[littleblurryblue](http://littleblurryblue.tumblr.com/post/174639253831)_  
  
  
“Did someone order a fully-equipped Future Industries airship?”

“It’s perfect! Thanks, Asami.”

“I figured if we’re going to Ba Sing Se to search for Airbenders, we should do it in style.”

It wasn’t a lie.

But it wasn’t the truth, either.

 

**

 

_“Ms. Sato?”_

_“What is it?” She asked, not looking from the papers piled on her desk, the tabulations, inventories. What had seemed like a life-saving deal only a few days before, selling the bulk of her shares to Varrick to keep her company afloat, at least in some form, had imploded when he’d been arrested for trying to kidnap the president and war profiteering. Varrick Industries’ stocks had plummeted, and Future Industries had fallen even deeper in the hole, and somehow,_ somehow _she now had controlling interest in both._

_Whoever had come in the room cleared his throat, just as Asami was forgetting he had come in. She jerked her head up, and saw Matsuo San, the chairman of her board of directors._

_“Matsuo,” she greeted, returning to her spreadsheet. What resources could they afford to liquidate? They had to keep the Satomobile lines going, even at a diminished capacity; restarting them would cost even more if the supply chain shut down. “Did you come to talk to me before the meeting?”_

_“The meeting is over, Ms. Sato.”_

_“What? That’s nonsense, it’s--” she looked at the clock, and realized the meeting was scheduled to start over an hour and a half ago. Shit. “I’m sorry, I’m just trying--”_

_“Ms. Sato, I know what you’re trying to do. The whole board knows what you’ve been trying to do for the past seven months or so. The problem is, you haven’t been able to do it.”_

_She scowled at him. He wasn’t a man she could afford to scowl at, but what else was she supposed to do? “This is Future Industries. We still make the highest quality, best-engineered vehicles in the world. Once this all blows over--”_

_“It’s not going to just ‘blow over’, Ms. Sato. Not this time. Hard decisions need to be made.”_

_Asami leaned back, spreading her hands out to indicate the paperwork battlefield covering her desk. “What do you think all this is? I can have a proposal ready for the board by tomorrow morning--”_

_“Ms. Sato…”_

_“We can use Varrick’s fleet to increase our shipping to the Fire Nation, our reputation is untarnished there and we’re best known for our luxury line. I’m sure plenty of middle class people there would jump at the chance at a more economical--_

_“Ms. Sato!”_

_His voice was like a slap. Matsuo had never,_ never _raised his voice to her. That wasn’t how this company was run. She drew her hands beneath the desk, so he couldn’t see her make fists. “Mr. San, if you raise your voice with me again--”_

_“The board wants you out, Asami.”_

_Her mouth went dry. Her fingers went slack. “What?”_

_“We voted on it just before I came here. The decision was unanimous. Future Industries is going through the most troubled circumstances a company can, and it would challenge even the most seasoned businessperson. You are eighteen years old.”_

_“Nineteen,” she breathed. She wasn’t sure he heard her. She hoped he hadn’t._

_Matsuo took a breath. “We’re not unappreciative of your efforts, and we don’t wish to lose that genius mind of yours. Not everybody has a head for business, Ms. Sato, especially not right away. So we’re going to give you a choice. You can take a two-year leave of absence, willingly, while retaining your title, or we strip all authority from you and render you a simple shareholder. We would like your answer by tomorrow at noon.”_

_Matsuo turned and left. Asami, eventually, noticed._

**

 

“I really appreciate you doing this, you know,” Korra said, as they stood at the window, watching the Earth Kingdom march far beneath them.

“Doing what?” Asami asked. How peaceful everything looked from thousands of feet up. How distant everything was.

“Oh, I dunno… the big awesome airship?” She laughed, gesturing around them. “Taking time off from your company to help us? I can’t imagine Future Industries is making a lot of money off of this.”

Asami put on a smile. She was good at that. Practiced. “Well, our presence in the Earth Kingdom isn’t very strong. Seeing some of this territory--the condition of the roads, what kind of infrastructure they have--could present us with a lot of opportunities. That kind of information is pretty valuable.”

“You don’t say?” Korra asked, leaning against the rail. “I guess that makes sense. Still, I’d think, with the city the way it was, they’d need every brilliant mind they could get helping fix it.”

“Oh, they do,” Asami said. “Too bad this mind had something more important to do.”

They laughed together, and Asami let her worries slip away again like the Earth beneath them.

 

**

 

“So, Asami,” Suyin said from her entrenched place at the head of the table. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about your products. Not about your company, sounds like that’s a mess right now.”

“That’s… being handled,” Asami said firmly, taking a sip of her tea. She hadn’t thought of it in days--what time she didn’t give Korra, she’d been using to help Tenzin with the logistics of the airbender hunt. But now that the airbenders were all off to the Northern Air Temple, and they might be staying here a while… it was getting harder to hide.

“Well, that’s wonderful, I’m sure. Good thing to have subordinates you can trust, isn’t it?” Her chopsticks dropped a perfectly-sized slice of the delectable honey salmon into her mouth, and Suyin turned as the conversation moved on, but her eyes lingered on Asami.  

Asami understood why Lin was so irritated all the time.

She turned her attention to Korra, and caught the slightest frown on her friend’s lips. Asami’s mask was firmly in place, though. Soon, they were laughing again.

 

**

 

A whistle got Asami’s attention as she finished welding a runner on the bottom of their makeshift, cabbage-rigged sand sailer. Korra had her arms crossed, her hips swayed, and her eyes on Asami. “You really are amazing, you know that?”

Asami smiled, the way Korra always seemed able to make her. Even now, when they could be gobbled up by that sand shark at any moment, she couldn’t think of anywhere else she’d rather be. Nowhere else she’d be as appreciated, as satisfied. As… Asami.

“I can’t say it’s a vehicle I’d want to put my logo on,” Asami said, giving it a kick. “But desperate times and all.”

Korra glanced around, making sure the crewmen weren’t within earshot. Asami caught on, leaned in. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something,” Korra said.

“Sure,” Asami replied, taking a swig from her dwindling water ration. “Though is this the best time?”

“Seems like sometimes, we’ve gotta make do. Asami… how is your company doing. Really?”

She tried to turn away, but too quickly. The mask slipped. Korra could read her body language well, too. A hand caught Asami’s shoulder. It stayed there, firm, gentle. Questioning.

“It’s… not that bad,” Asami insisted. “Some disagreements in direction. They’re putting things in order, I can come back eventually.”

“They took it from you?”

“I was about to lose it anyway.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

Asami shrugged. “I’m doing a lot of good with you.”

“You could do a lot of good there, too. And look at this! You’re a genius! Asami, I love having you with me, but I’ve seen you sketching things on napkins. You’ve got an itch to create, Asami! Future Industries is the best way for you to do that.”

Korra… wasn’t wrong. Heck, the night she’d nearly been kidnapped, Asami had still been awake and hadn’t even washed her face, because a new fuel injection system idea was swirling through her brain. All this time, galavanting around the world with Korra, even as it got dangerous, had been the happiest Asami had felt in… how long? Ever? But she was restless. She couldn’t keep following, she had to _make_ things! What good was her brain if she was just the Avatar’s chauffeur?

“Let’s get out of the desert and deal with Zaheer first, okay? Then maybe we’ll talk about dealing with my board of directors.”

“I don’t know who they are, but I’m sure you’re smarter than the lot of them. What do they bring to the table that you don’t have on your own?” Korra laughed, like she’d made a joke.

Asami smirked, already contemplating not Korra’s question, but the reverse: what did Asami bring to the table?

Maybe she’d been too tired to see it at the time. Maybe she’d needed this time away.

But Korra was right. If she could be the brave and caring woman Asami had grown so close to all the time, Asami could certainly find it in her to conquer back her own company.

And now, she had an idea how.

 

**

 

“Spoiler alert:” Bolin said, handing the letter to Korra as they all stood on together on the dock. All but one of them, that is. “Pabu and I already miss you.”

Asami saw Korra smile, looking at the letter she held in her lap. “Thanks. That’s sweet.”

Bolin and Mako believed the smile. Tenzin, perhaps, suspected, but he had hope. He said nothing. Asami saw the mask.

Asami recognized it. She’d worn one for so long.

She put her hands on Korra’s shoulders, and Korra turned. Her eyes, those blue eyes Asami could lose her life and her past, could lose her whole self in, they looked up into her. “Are you sure you don’t want any company in the Southern Water Tribe?” Asami asked, tried not to beg. She couldn’t lose her. Not now. “I’m happy to come with you.” Without her… what happiness could she have? What did she have left?

“No… I appreciate it, but I’ll only be gone for a couple of weeks. A little time alone will be good for me.”

It wasn’t a lie.

But it wasn’t the truth, either.

Korra was leaving her--no. No, this wasn’t about Asami. She had to keep reassuring herself that, keep telling herself. Just as she had for her mother, and her father. Just as she had for Mako, for her company. It was never about Asami, but there was always something bigger, something more important…

For Korra, that was certainly true. The mask Asami wore was not for her own sake, but for Korra’s--she knew her friend didn’t want tears, she needed hope right now.

Korra was broken. The city was broken. Asami’s heart…

Asami wore a mask, and Korra wore a mask, and Korra sailed away.

She’d be back. Not in a few weeks, Asami knew that much already. But one day, one way or another, Korra would be back.

Asami would be ready. Would be waiting.

As she watched the boat fade into the distance, a chill in her bones and a night full of tears working hard to start early, Asami was preparing. Putting herself together. She needed to be in control, needed to be confident, needed to be unflappable.

Asami would be waiting, but she wouldn’t stand still. The part of her that loved the woman that just vanished over the horizon would be here waiting, yes, but another woman, another Asami had work to do.

She had to make Republic City ready for when its Avatar returned.

Whenever that was going to be.

 

**

 

“I see the board’s schedule hasn’t changed,” Asami said, striding through the doors and enjoying the look of shock on all their faces as she strode in. “Oh, don’t bother getting up. Other than you, Matsuo, I’d like your seat.”

“Just one moment, Ms. Sato!” he objected.

Asami slapped a file on the table in front of him. “That, my friends, is a list of the ninety seven essential patents belonging to Hiroshi Sato that are licensed to Future Industries. And here,” she slapped another file atop it, “are the twenty three of mine already in use or development. I’ve got another dozen or so being processed, too.

Matsuo’s jaw worked. Asami wanted to smile, but she had her business mask on. It had been a while, but she found it oddly comforting, now.

Besides, what others masks did she have left? Daughter? Friend? Socialite? Adventurer? Who was left that she could trust to see herself?

Asami turned, addressing the board. Certainly not them. “While you’ve all done a marvelous job putting the books in order, the company needs to grow to succeed, not merely subsist. You’ve stabilized our finances, that’s almost a miracle.” Not the miracle she would’ve hoped for… but Korra would have to attend to that herself. “But now that that’s done, and we’re all satisfied with it, I want back in.”

“We agreed,” Matsuo said, “Two years--”

“Or I withdraw all the patent licences under that Sato name.”

Everyone around the table was too shocked to speak, other than their head of Human Resources. She was snickering. Matsuo looked downright ill, which might have had something to do with it.

Gently, firmly, Asami pulled back on Matsuo’s chair. “Will you need to deliberate, or can I have my seat back now? It is, after all, my table we are all sitting at.”

Matsuo collected himself enough to stand, and surrender the seat. One of the other board members had the courage to ask, “You said you want to expand. In what direction?”

Asami tilted her head toward him. A good question. A serious question. They were giving her a chance. This time, she knew she had it.

This time, she knew what she needed to do.

“We’re a car company,” Asami said, “in a city that’s still rebuilding its roads. They were never in good shape to begin with. Ladies and gentlemen, if we want to succeed in Republic City, we need to _rebuild_ Republic City. Matsuo?”

She startled him out of his shock. “Ms. Sato?”

“How would you like to head up our newest department? Construction is the biggest boom industry in town.”

“But, we’re not a construction company.”

“Follow demand, Mr. San. That’s what Republic City needs.” That’s what Korra needs. “That’s what we’re going to be.”

She settled the CEO mask over herself, almost felt it against her skin. The fit had to be good--she’d be wearing it for a while. “Any questions?”  

**Author's Note:**

> [Visit me on my tumblr! Say hi! ](https://threehoursfromtroy.tumblr.com/)


End file.
